Category: Peter Swanson

Let's face it: sometimes a career can go stale. When you were 18, you might have been convinced that culinary school was your passion. Or maybe that near-decade of secondary education left you with a PhD that you couldn't care less about. Now, it seems, you might have an out: the tech industry. For those who have the drive and aptitude, a short training program might be the only thing separating you from an $68,000-a-year, entry-level salary – quite a bit better than the usual barista or waitstaff gigs that await folks who switch careers after leaving school.

Job hunting can get pretty monotonous: open up your computer, tweak your cover letter, change a bullet point, re-enter your job history, answer a couple of ridiculous questions, and then never hear back. It may seem like the system is set up to keep you from connecting with jobs that really suit you. But what if you could find job listings in places you'd never expect? What if they came to you in the midst of your day-to-day life? It's not as uncommon as you'd think.

It's a big week: you're about to head out on your first business trip for the company, and you want to really nail it. The good news is, you'll probably be fine. Just be yourself, trust that the company knows what they're doing sending you out — and then fake the rest until it feels all right. But for the sake of your own sanity, we've compiled a list of the travel hacks that will make this trip feel like as much of a vacation as your friends think it is.

Even in small and midsized businesses, it can feel difficult to get to know the people you work with. You may be a tight-knit team in your own department, but the folks over in accounting might as well be at a different company. Smart businesses like Toronto-based FreshBooks are starting to take notice of this and have found an unconventional, albeit effective solution: setting their employees up on blind dates.

Job hunting can feel a lot like dating in a big city: it's unbelievably time-consuming, rarely yields results, and despite the myriad "options," you end up with nothing but a drained bank account and a lower sense of self worth. So I'm told. Worse, there are a lot of people out there looking to make some money off of your desperation. Thankfully, we've identified some of the biggest job hunting scams so that you don't have to experience them firsthand.

This isn't your first rodeo. You've probably been to a lot of job interviews in your career — some good, some ... not so good — and you're really hoping this one sticks. You've tried some of the standard softball questions, but nothing seems to evoke a genuine response. You may even have brushed up on how to answer some of those awful curve balls interviewers are always eager to throw. Are you ready to have a real conversation with your interviewer that leaves a great impression? We may be able to help.

You don't need me to tell you what you already know: it's time to quit. You're reading all sorts of blog posts about it, fantasizing about that grand exit speech, and constantly picturing yourself in other jobs. It's OK. You're not alone: 70 percent of Americans are not engaged at work. The trouble is that you're not sure you can quit right now, right? Not so fast.

In November, the unemployment rate officially hit 5 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate many economists use to mark "full employment." But as Nelson D. Schwartz wrote at The New York Times, "The slack that built up in the labor market after the recession ... has changed traditional calculations of how far unemployment can fall before the job market tightens and the risk of inflation rises." In other words, on economic or personal level, that 5 percent unemployment marker might not mean what it used to mean.

Reading this on your fourth coffee break today? You've got company. According to Gallup, less than one-third of U.S. workers were engaged with their jobs in 2015. While we tend to talk about employee engagement as if the employees themselves are to blame, those statistics might hint that there's more to the problem than just a few workers with attitude problems.

Do you have a new hire coming into the office in the new year? They're probably nervous. While there are those brave few newbies with ice in their veins, the proliferation of advice posts on this subject seem to indicate a large contingent of nervous nellies showing up on day one. In fact, from the stories shared on this blog not too long ago, it's clear some people let first day jitters get the best of them. If you want your newest rising star to be just that, it might behoove you to take some steps to ensure they don't see the same fate – all because of a few nerves.

It seems that no corner of the galaxy was able to escape the untold power of Disney's marketing team while we prepared for the release of Episode VII — not even the produce aisle. So if Disney can make fruits and veggies work for the film, what's stopping them from getting you working, too? In fact, nothing: Star Wars could be the best thing that's happened to your career in a long, long time.

You've been late to work three times this week. There's no hard start time, but you know everyone else beat you to their desks by at least 28 minutes. It's time to make a change: you need to become a morning person. The thought of going to be bed, waking up, and it still being dark may scare you now, but all it takes are few lifestyle changes to see just how compelling being a morning person can be.